Stress... and how it affects the family

     Stress is a natural emotion that everyone goes through on a daily basis. A huge cause of stress is families. I don't know the amount of times I've talked to friends and other family members that have been ranting to me about why they are stressed and the reason is... their family! 

    There can be so many reasons for this cause of stress. Parents making "dumb rules"and kids not wanting to follow them, all the way to kids or parents being drug addicts and not able to provide or serious mental health issues within family members. 

    Another huge problem within families is alcoholism. There are so many children out in the world with parents who are raging alcoholics and they can not physically or mentally provide for their families. Often times I feel like kids in these families blame themselves for their parents problems which causes a lot of stress and pressure on the children. And the parents usually don't even know that is happening. Often times in homes like these a lot of pressure falls onto the oldest child to kind of take responsibility as the parent and raise their younger siblings. 

    That situation doesn't stop at alcoholism. The same thing happens with mental health. My dad's biological mom had bipolar disorder and she refused to take medicine because she didn't believe she had it. She was abusive to my father and his siblings and was not capable of raising her 7 kids. My dad and his older sister, being the two oldest children stepped up and raised the younger kids from the time my dad was 7 years old up until he graduated high school and went into the marines. This happens so many times all over the world. 

    They even made a TV show (that is really inappropriate and no one should watch it) called shameless about a family in the ghetto where the mom disappeared (but shows up every now and then and has bipolar) and the dad who is an extreme alcoholic and lives his life on the streets. The oldest girl raises her 5 other siblings the best she can but the amount of stress that the parents causes their kids is extreme. But real life families like this are all around the world and it is so sad. 

    Another situation that causes a ton of stress is the loss of a parent or child. Death in a family takes a huge toll on the members in that home. Everyone blames themselves and thinks "if I just did this" they would still be here. In some cases people might blame others and turn on each other but in most cases they just start to hate themselves. And then they turn on god and ask why God would do this horrible thing to them and turning on god is never a good idea in any case. God is what brings us closer together and families. Having him on your side in a time of heartache will help the family grow stronger together. 

    I think the main point I want to make this week is that things happen. People stress. problems arise. We're all living on this earth trying to figure our crap out and it is hard. It is so very hard and sometimes our families are the root of that. But it is up to us to continue to let our families be the roots of our issues or to let our families make us stronger. Sometimes we can't control situations and that sucks. But with a good mindset and god on our side, anything is possible.